Politicians are playing the same game

While there's plenty of blame to go around for Pennsylvania's budget fiasco, one number stood out in last week's Quinnipiac University poll that attempted to fix blame.

The state Legislature's approval rating has dropped to 27 percent. That is just a single point above its all-time worst score of 26 percent, recorded in early October of 2005, a few months after the infamous middle-of-the-night pay raise that eventually cost several legislators, including two Republican leaders, their jobs.

Does that mean voters will punish these solons at the polls next year for not producing a budget in timely fashion? It's too early to tell. Though the poll found citizens concerned about the impasse, four weeks of sloth is unlikely to sustain voter anger until next spring's primaries. Far more likely to precipitate an electoral bloodletting would be a protracted stalemate that spread the pain well beyond the confines of state office buildings.

The reality is that citizens are routinely critical of the way their elected officials conduct business. Even when it's on track, representative democracy is messy, making laws often compared to making sausage -- you don't want to watch either process.

Besides, Gov. Ed Rendell drew the largest share of direct blame for the budget crisis -- 30 percent -- and only 28 percent of those polled approved of his overall handling of the budget. His proposal to raise the personal income tax by half a percent drew heavy disapproval, 63 percent, with only 33 percent in favor. The governor, two-thirds of the way through his second term, is barred by law from seeking a third term.

All of these poll numbers are interesting, but they paint a picture of public opinion only at this moment in time. The polls that truly matter are 10 months away, and, generally, politicians pay for a failing in the next election only when they have a credible and well-financed opponent who keeps the failings foremost in the voters' minds.

The problem with polls like these is that they're just too convenient for politicians to use. To govern according to the latest poll numbers might seem democratic, but in a republic like ours, we don't get to vote on every issue. We choose people to represent our interests, and we re-elect them much more often based on the body of their work than on a single issue.

In Washington, some congressional Republicans see President Barack Obama's declining approval numbers and look at health care reform as an opportunity to deal the president a political defeat, boosting their own electoral prospects in 2010. The substance of the debate -- how to contain costs and provide universal access to health care -- is no longer a factor.

But they could be playing with fire. Health care reform was one of Obama's signature campaign issues last year, along with changing a political culture that focused solely on scoring political advantage for keeping incumbents in office. "Politics as usual" -- where it appears legislators are working less for the citizens and more for themselves -- is the basis of public dissatisfaction with them, whether in Washington or Harrisburg.

One other number stood out in the Quinnipiac Pennsylvania poll: only 17 percent believe Senate Republicans are chiefly responsible for the budget impasse. Holding a 30-20 majority in the 50-seat chamber, Republicans passed a $27.3 billion budget in May that cuts spending to meet revenue expectations and have stood firm against tax increases to fund the higher budgets offered by Rendell and the Democratic majority in the state House.

However this crisis is resolved, senatorial Republicans can go to the polls in 2010 claiming that, like ordinary citizens, they found a way for the commonwealth to live within its means, to limit spending to what money was available.

For the moment, the poll indicates that's a good strategy.

Dale Davenport is the former Patriot-News editorial page editor: daledavenport@comcast.net.